Resources

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Understanding and unlocking restricted legacies

Legacies to charities usually fall into one of the categories below: Legacies falling into the second category are ‘restricted legacies’. What does this mean for your charity? Can those restrictions be lifted? And how should legacies in category 3 be treated? What is a restricted legacy? A restricted legacy is subject to binding legal restrictions …
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Bates Wells Beyond the Brochure: Application Masterclass

Join our Emerging Talent Manger for a walk through our trainee recruitment process, sharing what we look for in applications, how to stand out, and tips for approaching each stage of the process. When: 7 October 2026, 12:30-1:30pm Where: Zoom
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Bates Wells Impact Report 2026

We have an ongoing responsibility to create lasting positive change through our work with clients and our operations. Our role as lawyers is to help shape the systems, governance models and legal frameworks that support a more sustainable nature-positive economy. Our 2026 Impact Report focuses on environmental leadership in action and the ways in which …
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The year in education: Looking back and looking ahead

As schools, colleges and academy trusts prepare for the start of the new academic year, we reflect on the last 12 months and consider what lies ahead for the education sector. The coming years are expected to bring one of the most significant periods of policy reform in recent memory. In November 2025, the Department …
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Bates Wells discusses cybersecurity tips for schools with Independent Schools Management Magazine

Rayhaan Vankalwala and Nneka Cummins have published an article in the Independent Schools Management Magazine, August 2026 edition. Their article “Cybersecurity tips for schools” sets out the key questions that schools should be asking themselves to ensure they are protecting the personal data they hold appropriately. With the fast pace of technology and the new …
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Breaking down cookies: a guide

One of the main practical changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (the “DUAA”) relates to cookies and similar technologies (which we refer to collectively in this blog as “cookies”). With this in mind, we wanted to take the opportunity to demystify the rules around cookies under UK data protection law, and …
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Climate clauses in real estate: why they matter more than ever

Across the property industry, climate and ESG ambitions should no longer be considered as optional. Inefficient, high-carbon buildings are becoming harder to let, insure and finance; there is increasing investor pressure, and organisations are publicly committing to doing better. Real estate is particularly exposed to the risks of climate change. Leases, funding agreements and construction …
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Mandatory MFA for all SMS users: what sponsors need to know now

Update: The Home Office released a step by step guide to sponsors on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on 28 August 2026 which you can find here. The Home Office is introducing mandatory Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all Sponsorship Management System (SMS) users. MFA adds a one-time passcode (OTP) step to the existing username and password login. …
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Subscription regime set for January 2027

On 09 August, the Prime Minister announced a series of ‘everyday fixes’ to alleviate household costs in the UK. One of these was a commitment to end subscription traps as soon as possible. Last year, we ran several webinars on a new subscription regime introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act 2024 (‘DMCC’) …
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Competition law for awarding organisations: practical risk management for confident collaboration

Awarding organisations (AOs) operate in competitive markets. As well as considering their own conduct with other AOs, they can also bring competitors together for legitimate purposes, for example, sharing best practice, promoting assessment consistency, consulting on regulatory changes, or discussing operational challenges. Whenever competitors meet, competition law is engaged. The risk isn’t theoretical. The Competition …
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Faith-based charities and regulatory engagement: prevention and response

The regulatory landscape Regulatory action by the Charity Commission is increasing. There were 18% more regulatory concern cases, 25% more statutory inquiries and just under 60% more inquiry powers used in the Commission’s most recent financial period than its previous one. Common themes for the Commission opening investigations are governance failures, safeguarding issues, conflicts of …
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Hiding in plain sight – paying the price of forever chemicals in fashion

“Nearly every American now has PFAS in their blood.” That stark finding, highlighted by journalist Alden Wicker, captures the scale of a problem that has quietly woven itself into the UK’s modern life – and into the clothes we wear every day. What are PFAS? Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often dubbed “forever chemicals”, are …
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